


Lovesick Fool

by frostryn



Category: The Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Gen, Holiday Exchange, harrow and gideon are mentioned, including a very rare treat: palamedes being dramatic, sickfic adjacent, tlt exchange 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28540287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostryn/pseuds/frostryn
Summary: Camilla returns home from an extracurricular trip to find Palamedes despondent on the couch following a romantic rejection.
Relationships: Camilla Hect & Palamedes Sextus
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	Lovesick Fool

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pipistrelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipistrelle/gifts).



> This is a holiday exchange gift for Lisa! It's some college/university AU Cam and Pal and it is sickfic adjacent, so I hope you end up enjoying it, Lisa! I'm not completely sure I captured the character voices super well since Cam is a little tough to pin down, but I did my best.

The student apartment that Camilla Hect and Palamedes Sextus shared was a small, two bedroom place with noisy neighbors on all sides. It was a miracle that either of them ever got anything done, if not for the combination of a boatload of caffeine and the ingenuity of Sextus himself. As it turns out, plastering every surface thick with scraps of notes, reminders, and printed packets loaded with class information had a sound-proofing effect that their neighbor Gideon often called “garish” and “like a textbook threw up in here”. Camilla didn’t mind, she’d been surrounded by his mess since childhood, and at least she kept their kitchen clean and both of their class materials organized. Palamedes often said that he’d lose his own head if she wasn’t there to make sure it was still attached. Unfortunately that wasn’t far from the truth, because when she unlocked the door and stepped inside after a week-long extracurricular trip, she found him in a miserable heap on the couch with puffy eyes and surrounded by clutter. 

They were both students in their third year at Canaan University; Camilla had a full ride soccer scholarship that Palamedes had helped her apply for. She credited him for it, but he always threw up his hands and told her that it was due to her athletic ability and it had nothing to do with him. “And besides,” he would always say “You’re brilliant.” He also had a full ride thanks to his eidetic memory and intense discipline for his studies. Palamedes had learned exactly what he wanted when he was very young and therefore was always at the top of his class. Camilla was never far behind. 

They were both meant to be on that trip, it was Palamedes who originally encouraged her to join CU’s Charity Committee alongside him their freshman year. Unfortunately, one of his teachers had to take unexpected leave the week following, so his exam in that class was moved up and he couldn’t miss it, even for a school sanctioned trip. Camilla wanted to stay behind, but he just smiled and told her to go on without him; the credit hours would look good on her resume. The only communication she received from him that entire week was a single text exchange on Tuesday.   
  
“She said no :(“ She woke up to the text just after it was send around six in the morning. Camilla always set his ringtone to be the loudest just in case he needed her.   
  
“That sucks.” She sent back.   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
“Are you okay?”   
  
“Yeah.” And that was all.   
  
Camilla couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t worried, but she hadn’t expected to find him in a depressed, disheveled heap. On the way home, she had stopped at the convenience store and armed herself with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s for both of them. She kicked off her boots, abandoned her suitcase in front of her bedroom door, and grabbed two spoons before walking back into the common space. Palamedes was laying on the old grey couch, watching an infomercial about vacuums with bleary eyes, his brown hair sticking out in every direction. He was half covered by a blanket, but looked like he hadn’t slept. His glasses sat on the coffee table in front of him, covered in smears. The table itself was a mess of textbooks, empty mugs, and tissues. The only light on in the apartment was in the kitchen, so Palamedes was illuminated by the flickering colors of the TV; it made him look even worse. Camilla couldn’t help but frown, it was uncharacteristic of him to be so upset over a simple rejection, no matter how long he’d been vying for the attention of Dulcinea Septimus.   
  
“Move your feet.” Camilla said, passing his pint of butter pecan as he propped himself up against the arm of the couch. She folded herself into her seat with her knees tucked up so she was facing him, and then changed the channel to something less mind numbing, even though she didn’t plan to watch. She removed the lid on her cherry garcia and dug her spoon into it.   
  
“Thanks, Cam.” He said. 

“I thought you might need it.” 

For a while, they were silent. The chatter of the TV and the hum of the air conditioner filled Camilla’s ears until she felt deafened, claustrophobic in the stuffy shared apartment. She wanted to give him space, but she couldn’t tear her eyes off him.   
  
“You watching me like that is getting uncomfortable, Cam.” Palamedes said after a while. “Just ask me what happened.”   
  
“Okay.” She licked her ice cream spoon. “What happened?”   
  
Palamedes let out a sigh, closing the lid of his pint and putting it on the table. He pulled the grey woolen blanket over his chest. “Well you know about the first part. I finally asked her out and she said no.” His tone was even and his eyes were cold.   
  
Palamedes Sextus had met Dulcinea Septimus when he was eight and she was fifteen. She was the daughter of one of his mother’s friends, and one day when there was a family emergency, Palamedes was dropped off at their doorstep to be looked after for a few hours. They kept in touch afterwards over email, and then later over text. Dulcinea became great friends with Palamedes, and by extension Camilla. She was the reason that Palamedes wanted to go to CU: she graduated from the university six years earlier, and began working on a graduate degree a few years after that. By the time the two of them were shipped off to university themselves, Dulcinea was a teacher’s aide in the biology department. As an anthropology major studying in the same building, Palamedes’ path crossed Dulcie’s often, intentionally or not.   
  
Palamedes had been in love with Dulcinea for years, perhaps as long as they’d known each other. It started, of course, as a childish love. He liked her because she was pretty and had been kind to him. She treated him like he was intelligent, like the words he said had value, like he wasn’t some dorky eight year old chattering on about his latest obsession. Of course, as he grew up and appreciated her for her intelligence and humor, his feelings deepened passed a child's infatuation. It was only a matter of time before he told her, and Camilla wasn’t surprised with the outcome.   
  
“I don’t understand.” He said. “I thought it through so thoroughly, I convinced myself she would say yes.”   
  
“Well, assuming she would was your first mistake. I’m sorry, Palamedes.” Camilla replied.   
  
“I’m just afraid this will ruin our friendship for good.”   
  
“It won’t, she wouldn’t throw it all away just because you have feelings for her. She’s not that kind of person.” Camilla replied sternly.   
  
Palamedes frowned stubbornly. “Yeah. That’s not even the worst part, though.”   
  
“Alright, so what’s the worst part?”   
  
Grabbing his pint of ice cream again, Palamedes took a bite and seemed to be mulling it over. “I failed my exam, the ethnography one.”   
  
One could count the times that Camilla Hect had been completely dumbfounded on one hand, but her mouth fell slack the moment he finished speaking. Palamedes had never failed an exam. Hesitantly, she repeated “You failed?”   
  
“I got a B.”   
  
“You… you got a B?”   
  
“Yeah, so I failed.”   
  
If she was surprised before, she was now irritated beyond comprehension. She rubbed at her temples. He was going to give her premature wrinkles. “Sextus, you didn’t fail. You know that. You’re being incredibly dramatic.”   
  
“I’m not being dramatic.” He huffed.   
  
“I'm not going to argue with you. Well then, how did you get a B?”   
  
“I was upset after talking to Dulcinea, I didn’t study or get enough sleep. My exam was the day after.”   
  
“Bad timing, then.”   
  
“Yeah,” he agreed, sulkily. “Terrible timing. I’ve never gotten a B before, this is unprecedented and it’s going to destroy my grade point average.”   
  
“No it won’t,” Camilla argued, “the exam won’t reflect your entire grade in the class, they’re never worth that much. And even if it was, one B wouldn’t completely devastate your track record. I got a B on two of my exams last quarter and it didn’t matter at all. Have you talked to Gideon? She would probably kill you, personally, to get a B on an exam.”   
  
“Yeah, Nav was keeping me company yesterday. She said she knows all about getting bad grades and being rejected by girls, I think Harrow sent her over. Maybe she thought it would help.”   
  
“Did it?” Camilla asked.   
  
“No.” 

There was a pause, and the sound of the blaring TV filled the space like the tide crashing back in. It was a rerun of a cop drama that had been running almost as long as both of them had been alive. It was terribly dull.  
  
“Maybe you could talk to your professor about it.” Camilla suggested.   
  
“She won’t let me retake it when my score is so…” He trailed off, but she knew the word he was avoiding _._

“What about extra credit? I know some classes don’t give it, but there might be something for you to pick up.”   
  
“I already did all the extra work offered this semester. I always do, Cam.” 

She looked at him sadly. “If I knew it was this bad, I would have come home sooner. I wish you told me.” 

“No,” He shook his head, “I didn’t want you to worry. You were supposed to be having fun.” He changed his tune when he saw her expression, throwing up his hands. “Okay, okay, I know volunteering isn’t exactly what one would constitute as _fun_ , but I didn’t want you to miss it just because of me. What did the committee get up to, anyway? I only skimmed the email, but I assume the length of the trip was related to the devastation caused by the flood that hit the coast a few weeks ago.”   
  
“Flood relief was most of it. We helped make meals for the people who were stranded and keep the shelters clean, as well as help tidy up debris in areas where the water had already receded.”   
  
“That sounds like a lot of work, are you sore?” Palamedes asked.   
  
Camilla shrugged, rolling her shoulders to test herself. “A little, but since I have to keep up with my workouts for the team, I had an easier time than most people on the committee.”   
  


“Then I suppose it’s better I didn’t come then, I think it would’ve killed me.” He gestured to himself humorously.   
  
“I probably would have just done all the heavy lifting for you.” She replied, and Palamedes let out a sharp laugh. She couldn’t help but smile, leaning back into the comfort of the couch and digging the melted ice cream away from the sides of her pint. 

Camilla refocused her gaze onto the TV, her smile waning as a sigh escaped from her lips. They rarely spent time together like this, generally the TV was left on as background noise and the couch was a glorified storage space. There was a time in their teens when they took afternoons off to binge reruns of their favorite shows, but after they began working on their degrees, the time just wasn’t there anymore. Six months into their second year at CU, Dulcinea had convinced them to take a break on Sunday nights and watch a movie with her.   
  
“Oh, come on, Pal! All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You can’t just keep your heads down for the entirety of college, you’re missing a key part of the experience.” An exasperated Septimus had explained, clutching a DVD case in her lap. They had been living in a much smaller dorm room at the time, so there was nowhere to hide when Dulcinea had wheeled herself in unannounced.   
  
“Jack is trying to keep his scholarship.” Palamedes argued.   
  
“It’s one night! Like 2 hours tops, I swear. Please? Come on, Cam, agree with me.”   
  
The first few weeks were reluctant, but they became a tradition that both Camilla and Palamedes looked forward to each week. Dulcinea always had snacks at ready disposal and always managed to pick something to watch that they enjoyed (and if a movie ended up terrible, they got just as much enjoyment out of tearing it apart afterwards). They even continued into summer breaks when Camilla and Palamedes went home; they would have a video call and Dulcinea would share her screen. Camilla felt her stomach twist at the thought, but perhaps it was just a result of the overindulgent desert she was eating. Tomorrow was Sunday.   
  
She remembered the text she’d received from Dulcinea on Friday afternoon: “Hey Cam. I know you’re not home right now but when you are, you should check in on Palamedes. I would, but I don’t think he wants to see me right about now, he hasn’t answered my texts. I caught him in the hallway earlier looking super slumped over and upset. He just needs a friend. Thanks.”   
  
Camilla turned back towards Palamedes, who had his clear grey eyes focused forward. “Are we still on for movie night with her tomorrow?”   
  
He frowned, shoulders tensing a fraction. He tapped both hands along the sides of the paper carton, like he couldn’t figure out what to do with them. “I don’t know, I haven’t talked to her in a while. She asked the same thing.”   
  
“We haven’t missed out since last year when you got the flu really bad.” Camilla replied. “We should go, she wants us there.”   
  
Palamedes just grunted, putting the top back on his ice cream and abandoning it on the coffee table. Camilla stood up and grabbed both half empty pints and dirty spoons, heading to the kitchen. On the way, she gave Palamedes’ shoulder a gentle squeeze.   
  
Once the spoons were washed and the ice cream was safely stored in the freezer, Camilla returned to the living room. The melodramatic cop show had been replaced by a balding man holding up a fraying yellow towel: “Only six payments of 79.99! And if you call now, we’ll half the price! You have no excuse but to buy our amazing towelwowza!” Camilla changed the channel again. 

“I wish I could do more to help you feel better.” She said, grabbing his glasses from the table and wiping the lenses clean against her shirt.

  
Palamedes shrugged, accepting the glasses when they were offered. “You haven’t had your heart broken.”   
  
Camilla shook her head. “Yes I have. You break my heart all the time.”   
  
He raised his eyebrows. “What is that supposed to mean?”   
  
“It just hurts me to see you like this. You call me stubborn but here you are,” She gestured towards him. “Dulcinea texted me earlier in the week asking me to check in on you when I got home because she was worried. You can’t just keep avoiding her because things might be a bit awkward from now on. You’re making a fool of yourself.” 

After a pause, when Palamedes didn’t reply, she continued. “It’s healthy to feel upset when things go wrong, but you can’t sabotage yourself by delaying the inevitable. You’re acting like a despondent, lovesick teenager.”   
  
There was silence again, and Camilla began to worry that she’d been too harsh. Then Palamedes bubbled into laughter, cracking a brilliant smile. “Tough love is your specialty, isn’t it? I thought you were supposed to be the quiet one between us.”   
  
She shrugged. “Someone has to be around to give you a reality check.”   
  
“Then consider mine checked. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thanks for being here for me, Camilla.”   
  
“Does this mean we’ll be going to movie night tomorrow?”   
  
Palamedes considered for a moment, removing his glasses and wiping the lenses again. “I think I have to now. But you’ll have to excuse me if I continue to mope for today. You're always trying to solve my problems for me, but sometimes I just like you to be around.”   
  
“Alright, we can stay right here and you can mope. And tomorrow we’ll go see Dulcinea. Deal?” She extended a hand toward him.   
  
He clasped it and shook. “Deal.”   
  
Before Camilla could take her hand away, Palamedes pulled her in for a quick, tight hug. She patted him on the back gently before he let go and coughed awkwardly. “You’re my best friend, I hope you know that.” He said, eyes full of sincerity.   
  
“Of course I do.” She smiled, standing up. “I’ll make us some hot chocolate and popcorn, why don’t you find something that’s watchable?”   
  
Palamedes nodded, flipping through channels with the remote. She headed into the kitchen, and on her way she ruffled his disheveled hair until it lay flat. “You’d better take a shower before tomorrow, you look like a mess.” 

  
"Yeah. I will, Cam."   
  
  
  
  



End file.
